They've just opened the "Lizards" exhibit at the Shedd Aquarium. Heard it was the first time a Komodo Dragon has ever been shown in Chicago. Runs through Feb. 2007.

From their webste, free days at the Shedd, which is now $23 for adults:

"The Sara Lee Foundation presents Discount Days at Shedd Aquarium. During this time, general admission is free, and admission to both the Oceanarium and Wild Reef is available for an additional fee. The Discount Days schedule for the rest of 2006 is:

Discount Week: June 4 to 9
September, October, November: Mondays and Tuesdays"

Nobody doesn't like Sara Lee.

A resource many people don't know about is that you can check out museum passes from the Chicago Public Library if you are >18 and hold a library card in good standing. They can be hard to come by sometimes during the summer especially in neighborhoods which have alot of younger kids, but, they're there and *well* worth it. As I recall the pass is good for your family or up to 3 guests or something like that. The benefits vary museum to museum but it's free base admission at all of them as a minimum.

A resource many people don't know about is that you can check out museum passes from the Chicago Public Library if you are >18 and hold a library card in good standing. They can be hard to come by sometimes during the summer especially in neighborhoods which have alot of younger kids, but, they're there and *well* worth it. As I recall the pass is good for your family or up to 3 guests or something like that. The benefits vary museum to museum but it's free base admission at all of them as a minimum.

Here's a link that describes the library's Great Kids Museum Passports program:
http://www.chipublib.org/003cpl/partners/gkids/gkids.html

Apparently at the Shedd you get aquarium admission, but still have to pay for the Oceanarium and Wild Reef. I'm not sure where the Lizards exhibit would fit into that.

The Tribune had a very interesting article about how the staff was getting used to working with the komodo dragons. Apparently they can be quite dangerous (vicious and will attack humans in the wild), but these have been raised by humans since birth, so that offsets some of the danger. The keepers still take precautions like entering the cage while the dragons are sleepy and moving slowly. The funniest part of the article was a quote from the keeper saying that he was in the cage recently and one of the dragons was licking his ankle. The keeper seemed to find that endearing, but I don't know if I'd like that...I'd wonder if he was checking me out to see if I tasted good!

I'm pretty sure it's Oceanarium. I was there about a month ago and they were setting it up adjacent to the gift shop @ the Oceanarium. I must say, I was really disappointed w/ Shedd. If you had a membership, that's one thing. But $23 for 1 visit and having to stand in line 45 minutes (it was clear out the door and into the plaza) is just a ripoff. Brookfield has more to see, it's got Gorillas, and is less than half the price (IIRC)

I'm pretty sure it's Oceanarium. I was there about a month ago and they were setting it up adjacent to the gift shop @ the Oceanarium. I must say, I was really disappointed w/ Shedd. If you had a membership, that's one thing. But $23 for 1 visit and having to stand in line 45 minutes (it was clear out the door and into the plaza) is just a ripoff. Brookfield has more to see, it's got Gorillas, and is less than half the price (IIRC)

They raised the admission fee recently to pay for the multi-million dollar "Wild Reef." It had cost about $15 for adults.

I'm pretty sure it's Oceanarium. I was there about a month ago and they were setting it up adjacent to the gift shop @ the Oceanarium. I must say, I was really disappointed w/ Shedd. If you had a membership, that's one thing. But $23 for 1 visit and having to stand in line 45 minutes (it was clear out the door and into the plaza) is just a ripoff. Brookfield has more to see, it's got Gorillas, and is less than half the price (IIRC)

I seem to recall the Seahorses exhibit was inside the Oceanarium years ago (last time I was at the aquarium), so I imagine this is probably in the same place, near one of hte entrances/exits to the Oceanarium on the upper level I think.

I must say, I was really disappointed w/ Shedd. If you had a membership, that's one thing. But $23 for 1 visit and having to stand in line 45 minutes (it was clear out the door and into the plaza) is just a ripoff.
looks like you hit the Shedd at the wrong time. I was just there this past Sunday in the early am and there were no lines, not one, at any exhibits, we spent 1.5 hours there.

The Lizard exhibit was a bit underwhelming but at 120lbs the Komodo was impressive.

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looks like you hit the Shedd at the wrong time. I was just there this past Sunday in the early am and there were no lines, not one, at any exhibits, we spent 1.5 hours there.

The Lizard exhibit was a bit underwhelming but at 120lbs the Komodo was impressive.

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If you look at the post date, I was there in/around Late Feb/March. I went on a Saturday when it was cloudy/miserable (read: typical Midwestern Winter day when on big lake). My guess is that is a peak time. Even if there wasn't a crowd, Shedd is still a ripoff.

And the Komodo's-the MN zoo here has them, so I guess I don't really see them as all that fascinating.

Even if there wasn't a crowd, Shedd is still a ripoff.
Can’t agree with this. If $23 is too much for you or you didn't find a value so be it, but I found $23 to be a pittance for the value I received at the Shedd. ^